This invention relates to a clip for attaching a decorative molding around the edge of a pane of glass mounted within a frame-like depression formed in an automobile body to receive a windshield or rear window, the pane of glass being attached to the top surface of an edge projecting into the window opening at the bottom of the depression.
For the purpose of attaching clips for retaining a molding around an automobile windshield or window, of preventing the molding from marring the paint finish of the automobile body at the time of attachment and of precluding the entry of dirt and water between the molding and the car, it has in the past been common to fix a spacer having a J-shaped cross section with its trough opening upward or a spacer having an h-shaped cross section with an interior void around the vertical wall of the depression in which the windshield or window is to be mounted and to use the trough or void of the spacer to retain a group of clips for attaching the molding, the clips being spaced at intervals along the length of the spacer. The clips used in these conventional arrangements have been of various types. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,139,971 and 4,172,000 and Japanese Patent application Public Disclosure No. 114,786/1980.)
These conventional clips are attached to the spacer by being inserted into the trough or void of the spacer from above and when a once-attached molding is to be removed, it is necessary to insert a tool between the glass and the molding and then either to extract the clip upwardly or to grasp the clip and pull it forward to release the engagement between the clip and the molding. As this operation requires the worker to use a tool to locate clips which he cannot see because they are covered by the molding, the work is troublesome and inefficient.